1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to in-situ methods and transportable tools for preparing slurries such as mortar and cement mixtures on building or construction sites.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Those working on building or construction sites often are required to mix slurries such as mortar or cement for use in a specific location and at a particular time. Often, it required that workers expend hours in mixing cement or mortar in a five (5) gallon plastic bucket using a hand-held industrial drill with a four-inch (4″) paddle blade.
One problem is that while mixing, for example, dry powder cement into a slurry with water, the cement clumps up at the bottom of the bucket. The torque of the drill then spins the bucket, making the bucket very hard to keep steady. A spinning bucket's handle can strike the worker's shins and then the spinning bucket spills the slurry from the bucket, making a mess and wasting the material.
The traditional field-expedient method to hold the bucket while mixing is to straddle both sides of a bucket with one's feet. When straddling the bucket at a slight squat, a worker can squeeze his or her knees at the bucket's top rim, and can then slowly start spinning drill, to mix the dry powder material into the water and form the desired slurry consistency. Once a soup-like texture is reached, only then can the rest of the dry powder be added. The right texture is needed, and this a back-wrenching, time consuming way to do the job. When dried or heavy material is encountered and the bucket is more likely to spin during stirring, the worker must attempt to increase the grasping force on the bucket with his or her knees. The only benefit to this method is that it makes use of plastic 5 gallon buckets (e.g., drywall mud buckets) which are often already on a construction site, and so is cost effective and expeditious from an equipment buying/carrying standpoint.
The prior art includes supports described in patents and pending applications which either (a) are expensive to produce, (b) are less effective when in use, or (c) are more bulky and so difficult to transport and place, before use. For example, the patent to Troncone, U.S. Pat. No. 5,232,188 A, shows a mixing pail jig with a generally circular support ring which can be distorted to a squeezing elliptical condition by stepping on opposing foot pads which are normally above the floor, but contact the floor when stepped on. The device includes a floor engaging support, but does not permit the bucket to rest on a bottom surface, when in use.
In the patent to Lytle, U.S. Pat. No. 6,464,184 B1, a canister retaining apparatus has an adjustable base and at least one (preferably two) opposing swing members are attached to the base. One end of the swing member is attached to the base via a hinge, and the other end of the swing member has a semicircular recess. A spring is used to keep the swing member in an open position, and it can be closed with applied force (e.g., by stepping on it). Since the retaining apparatus has a large planar base with a width greater than a bucket's diameter, the apparatus is bulky and large.
In the patent to Zagorsky, U.S. Pat. No. 6,942,191 B2, there is shown an ant rotation device for a barrel in which viscous material is being mixed or stirred. There is a substantially planar, generally rectangular, member which includes an aperture to accommodate the barrel. A clip at the end of a chain hooks to the barrel. Stepping on the rectangular member tightens the chain and clamps the barrel. An alternative embodiment has a hooked strip in place of the clip and chain. Zagorsky's device depends upon use of a chain or hooked member to secure the barrel or bucket, and so rough handling may knock off the hooked member when working and mixing the slurry, causing the spill mentioned above.
In Roebuck's U.S. Pat. No. 6,829,800, a product sold under the trademark “Bucket Brake Plus” provides a pry tool, a cutting tool and a rotation prevention tool contoured to provide a downward force using a buckets bail or handle, but does not provide any clamping force against the bucket's outer surface, and instead pulls downwardly from only one side using the bucket's bail. As a result, the Roebuck tool, while versatile, cannot provide a strong and controllable clamping force to a bucket, when mixing.
In the patent application to Tedesco et al., No. 2004/0084599 A1, there is shown a five gallon bucket vise which has jaws to grip the bucket. Two elastomeric bands face one another, and lever movement causes one band to move toward the other band, encircling the container at its base region, and a spring-loaded latch holds the force. The device has a trip release, and a person can stand on the device. In an alternative design, the container is cornered between two fixed stops, and the lever moves a third stop. Tedesco's vise has several moving parts (making it expensive to produce) and provides a large bulky platform that is difficult to carry and place on a construction site.
In the patent application to Forshee et al., No. 2005/0045780 A1, a device with a tapered ring engages a bucket in a friction for use mixing. The ring-like socket has opposing wings for the worker's feet, which press the retainer against the floor or other support surface, but apart from the “friction fit” provides no secure clamping force and no mechanism to increase clamping force, when needed.
There is a need, therefore, for a method and inexpensive, portable apparatus for preparing mortar and cement mixtures on building or construction sites without creating undue stress on a worker's back, legs and shins, preferably while reducing mixing time and improving worker productivity.